Talk:pedophile

I do not want to make controversial edits and have been advised against it, so I will NOT change this myself, but I will give my advice that it should be changed. The usage note says, "Although strictly defined as one who is attracted to pre-pubescent children, pedophile is usually used and interpreted as describing adults who engage in sexual activity with children and/or teenagers below the age of consent." First of all, although the statement is true in general, it needs to be pointed out that in the medical field it is not true, in the medical field it strictly means primary or exclusive sexual attraction by adults or adolescents 16 years old and older to prepubescent children or to both prepubescent and early pubescent children. It is never used in the medical field to mean an adult having a sexual attraction to or sexual interaction with a post-pubescent minor, say a fully developed 15 year old female, although it would be used by doctors if a 15 year old were still prepubescent. So it is accurate to say the most common usage is for adults to have sexual attraction to or interaction with minors in general, but that should be qualified by pointing out that this is the most common usage in the one narrow field of medicine. Also this part is slightly inaccurate, "pedophile is usually used and interpreted as describing adults who engage in sexual activity with children and/or teenagers below the age of consent." That is not exactly true, most people use the term pedophile to mean having sexual attraction to or sexual interaction with minors below the age of majority, not the age of consent. For example, Mark Foley, a Republican in the USA Congress, made sexual advances on 16-17 year old boys who worked for him, and that was technically legal because the age of consent for sex in Washington, DC is 16 years old, but because the boys were under the age of majority, Foley was labeled a pedophile in the news media and by his political opponents. The age of consent is usually 16, but the generally public still considers sexual attraction to or sexual interaction with a 16-17 year old pedophilia because they are still legally children. This is a point Flyer22 made to me on wikipedia before. "RJR3333 has included Hans Eysenck in the lead. It states, "Hans Eysenck, in The Causes and Cure of Criminality, says that the popular definition of pedophilia is 'any sexual act' performed against a child under the age of 16." In my view, the way that one scholar defines pedophilia or what one scholar says is the popular definition of pedophilia should not be in the lead. For one, I'm quite sure that the most popular definition is sexual attraction to/a sexual act performed against a minor under 18; this is something that RJR3333 has also stated. And guideline-wise, the line does not comply with WP:LEAD; this way of defining pedophilia is not covered lower in the article. And as those who are familiar with/understand WP:LEAD know, the lead is supposed to be a summary of the most important aspects of the article. What is not covered lower in the article should typically not be in the lead. While the popular/non-medical definitions are covered lower in the article, including sexual attraction to/sexual abuse of pubescents and post-pubescents, specifically defining pedophilia as "any sexual act performed against a child under the age of 16" is not." She also stated, What are you even talking about? What you are stating is what does not make sense. Do you not know that Mark Foley was defined as a pedophile, despite Foley going after 16-year-olds (grooming them at 16 and waiting until they are 18 to have sex with them), and the age of consent being 16 in Washington, D.C.? He was defined as a pedophile because most 16-year-olds are legally children, and therefore the general public includes sexual attraction to 16-year-olds in their definition of pedophilia. This is covered in some other sources in the article. And as much as you have pointed out that 14-16 year olds are still children, even using the word "children" unless realizing that it's better to use "minors," your stating that I am not making any sense is quite ironic/ridiculous. Age of consent does not make one a legal adult. You know that. The 16-year-old is still legally a child." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Pedophilia/Archive_17#Hans_Eysenck So in terms of the popular use of pedophilia,if it should be noted, it should be noted accurately as meaning sex with people under the age of majority, that is how the general public uses the term, not to mean sex with people under the age of consent. Since I have been advised not to make controversial edits I will not change this myself, I am just making a suggestion. --PaulBustion88 (talk) 06:02, 2 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Note: PaulBustion88's words on what I mean or on my views are to be taken with a grain of salt. And I have reverted his changes. Flyer22 Reborn (talk) 02:43, 15 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]